Budget hotel chain Premier Inn has seen a leap in bookings on the back of ads starring Lenny Henry.

Owners Whitbread are spending £8million on the campaign, half of it on the internet.

That is twice as much as last year but they are already seeing payback with takings up nearly 11% in the past six months.

Whitbread boss Alan Parker told Your Money he had been "blown away" by the reaction.

He said 95% of Premier Inn's 42,000 rooms were booked over the August Bank Holiday weekend, which he described as a "phenomenal" performance.

The figures helped boost takings at the group's pub restaurants, such as Beefeater and Brewers Fayre, by 4.6% as many of them share sites with a Premier Inn.

Business is also booming at the group's Costa coffee chain. Revenues are up 8.3% helped by the sale of two million iced drinks over the summer and three million people joining its loyalty scheme since its March launch.